As a reminder: according to Polish law – in particular the Labor Code – the employer is obliged to provide their employees with safe work equipment. Below, I will describe additional requirements (beyond those described in the previous article regarding the acceptance of racking) relating to powered mobile racking systems on rails.
A special type of device used in some warehouses are powered mobile racking systems on rails, referred to by some suppliers – incorrectly according to terminology requirements – as “mobile racking”. The most important word, from the point of view of ensuring occupational health and safety for this type of equipment, is the word “powered”. It means that the device has a drive other than human muscle. And since that is the case, the basic requirement for such devices within the European Union is Directive 98/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to machinery. The Directive is transposed into Polish legislation by the Regulation of the Minister of Economy of 20 December 2005 on essential requirements for machines and safety components (Journal of Laws 2005.259.2170). It is no longer the Polish Standard, but the Regulation of the Minister of Economy that sets the safety standards for equipment such as powered mobile racking systems on rails. The basic grounds for not accepting such racking from a supplier are the lack of a main – referring to the entire racking system (as rail racking is usually sold in sets forming a system) – nameplate with the “name and address of the manufacturer, CE marking, series or type designation of the machine, serial number (if a serial number is used), and year of construction of the machine”. A WE declaration of conformity should be attached to the machine. The declaration must meet the requirements of paragraph 119 of the Regulation and “should contain:
1) the name and address of the manufacturer or their authorized representative, along with the name and address of the manufacturer on whose behalf they are acting,
2) a description of the machine: trade name, type, serial number – if the machine has such a number,
3) a specification of the legal acts whose requirements the machine meets,
4) if applicable:
a) the name and address of the notified body and the number of the EC type-examination certificate, referred to in § 122 paragraph 2, issued by that body,
b) the name and address of the notified body to which the documentation referred to in § 120 paragraph 2 point 2 letter a was sent,
c) the name and address of the notified body that performed the verification referred to in § 120 paragraph 2 point 2 letter b,
d) a specification of the harmonized standards applied,
e) information on applied national standards and technical specifications other than harmonized standards,
5) the name and surname of the person authorized to sign on behalf of the manufacturer or their authorized representative.”
Without the above marking and a correctly prepared EC declaration of conformity, one should not sign documents accepting equipment such as powered mobile racking systems on rails for operation. Machines usually have safety components. Powered mobile racking systems on rails also have such components. These are, for example, emergency stop switches, light curtains designed to stop the device in case of danger, etc. The declaration of conformity, “concerning safety components, should contain the following information:
1) the name and address of the manufacturer or their authorized representative,
2) a description of the safety component: trade name, type, serial number, if the safety component has such a number,
3) the safety function performed by the safety component, if it does not result from the description of the component,
4) if applicable:
a) the name and address of the notified body and the number of the EC type-examination certificate, referred to in § 122 paragraph 2, issued by that body,
b) the name and address of the notified body to which the documentation referred to in § 120 paragraph 2 point 2 letter a was sent,
c) the name and address of the notified body that performed the verification referred to in § 120 paragraph 2 point 2 letter b,
d) a reference to the harmonized standards applied,
e) information on applied national standards and technical specifications other than harmonized standards,
5) the name and surname of the person authorized to sign on behalf of the manufacturer or their authorized representative.”
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 5/2008.